Overseas Hindus Protest Against Persecution Of Hindus In Pakistan

Past fortnight saw various Civil Rights volunteers , Hindu organizations and hundreds of people from Hindu community coming together to hold protest demonstrations against the Pakistani Government at several places in USA and UK to highlight the atrocities against minorities in that country.

In New York and Washington DC, these protests were organized in front of Pakistan consulate on August 14 – Pakistan’s Independence Day by several local Hindu organizations like Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Probasi of Brooklyn, Overseas Friends of BJP - OFBJP USA, Michigan Justice for Hindus, Human Rights Coalition against Radical Islam, Friends of India Society International, World Hindu Council of America and many others.

Speaking at the rally at New York, Narain Kataria, president of Indian American Intellectuals Forum said “At the time of Partition, Hindus and Sikhs were approximately 22-25 percent but now they are only about one percent. Thousands of Hindu families are being torn apart by their desperation to flee persecution in Pakistan. We urge the Obama administration to intervene, save the minorities and restrain Pakistan,"

At the protest in Washington DC, Jenica Wright, a human rights lawyer with Amnesty International, who has worked with members of the minority community in Karachi said, "It is not acceptable to any citizen of a democratic country, what is happening in Pakistan. Every person has the right to have a peaceful and respectful life. To register our protest, we are holding this demonstration." Shri Shivram Seetaram and Shri Utsav Chakraborty of OFBJP also spoke in the program. 

"We strongly condemn what is happening in Pakistan against the minorities", said Gaurang Desai, coordinator of Friends of India Society International at a protest rally held at San Jose – California. 

The protesters carried banners and placards saying: "Pakistan is a Living Hell for Hindus, Sikhs and Christians; "Save Hindus, Sikhs and Christians from Islamic Terror" etc. The organizers handed over a memorandum to the office of the Pakistani Consul General expressing outrage, shock and indignation at the horrific treatment meted out to Hindus, Sikhs and Christians. 

In London, about 200 volunteers came together on 17th August under the banner of the Alliance of Pakistani & British Hindus to hold protest in front of the Pakistani High Commission, London to demand equal Human Rights for the Hindus in Pakistan.

A petition was handed over to the Pakistani High Commission asking the Pakistani Government to take immediate steps to ensure the well-being, safety of Hindus in Pakistan and to ensure it fulfills its obligatory duties towards Hindus of providing security and freedom.